So glad you said that Tjay I am getting cross with the press and media saying he was "crushed" and "thrashed". He wasn't he played well for two and a half sets and as you say unfortunately andys body let him down and Novak took advantage of that. Onwards and upwards Andy.

Well the BBC aren't saying that. I heard the report on Radio4 News and it said on current form Andy can expect to win more GSs. It was quite upbeat.Joe: I think a conscious decision was taken not to chase across half the world to Dubai this year but to concentrate on improving his performance on the American hard courts where he used to do so well. Hence the practice in Miami and the possibility of an American tournament such as delray before it but no tj I don't think anything was ever confirmed re delray. I got the sense they might play it by ear and seek a wild card if he decides to play.

Well if that doesn't tell the organisers something, then nothing will, even although it's blindingly obvious.

And Boogers' report is a very fair account of the match.

I'm not too disappointed because I wasn't realistically expecting a Murray win. He's still a work in progress with Lendl, who himself took over a year to win his second Slam, but one thing is certain and that is that Murray's mental fortitude is no longer an issue, and he showed us it again in this match. He must have known by the third set that his blistered feet (can't Adidas do something to make their shoes more wearer friendly?) were going to deny him the pleasure of a win, and that Djokovic would, understandably, take full advantage of the situation, yet he refused to give up despite being in obvious pain, something a tweaked hamstring only added to.

It's being said that Djokovic was the better player throughout but there were definite signs in the early stages of the match that Murray had him rattled - and at least one racket suffered, albeit slightly by Djokovic's standards. The important thing is that Murray now knows he can win a Slam, and with that knowledge, plus the fact that he beat Federer for the first time in one, he can build on this match, taking the positives from it and seeing the negatives in their true perspective. Unlike the aftermath of previous AO final defeats the future looks bright, not bleak.

NICE POST Aileen!

A few responses re: the bits I bolded.

(1) yes, and Nole took from 2008 until 2011 to win his second slam. and i believe pete sampras took a couple years. and safin took maybe 5! so there is no worries that Andy didn't win this one.

(2) agree about the shoes! Nole has had problems with his shoes too (he still wears adidas shoes).

(3) yep Andy kept fighting until the last point - in that final game he played one jaw-dropping defensive point that i remember!

(4) definitely - Nole was rattled for sure all set one and most of set 2. He couldn't convert on the bps in set one, and then in set two he was on the backfoot. once he held from 0-40 in the second set he said he started to feel "lighter" so at that point maybe there was some shift but honestly until he won the second set tiebreak they were neck and neck. at that point there was a definite shift in momentum (even though the match was just equal)

I honestly don't think Novak is as superior to Andy as some people are making out. ND is undoubtedly #1 but Andy is very close to him. Those first 2 sets Andy had the ascendancy. Andy hasn't yet learnt to be ruthless, this is whats costing him lately, he is not putting his opponents away at the first opportunity. Had he won the 2nd i believe he would have most likely won in 3 but after losing the 2nd and having seen those blisters on his feet it looked omminous even then.

The blisters definitely effected him no doubt about it! blisters are painful and when your playing ND and your injured even slightly 99/100 your gonna be buggered cos he will make you run and run. The reason he got the blisters again comes from this inability to be ruthless when it mattered in his semifinal which could have easily been a 3 set win.

All the greats are good front runners and knew how to keep a man down. Andy often gives his opponent life and hope when he gifts them a break or nets 5 shots in a row!

Looking back, I just don't think Andy played him the right way today. When he's had success against Djokovic in the past, he's been the aggressor, pounding groundshots into the corners and dictating rallies. Today, he was reactive, allowing the Djoker to dictate, hitting mid-court balls and generally not imposing himself. It was like the old Andy.

I was disappointed that Andy didn't try to shorten the points when he felt his foot getting more sore.

Also, he must surely have looked at the stats the last couple of times he played Djoko to see that he is coming into the net more and more and that when he does so, djoko is winning the points.

The next time they play I don't want to hear him say they know each other's game; or that it will be brutal and painful with long rallies.I want to see him not putting so much stress on his body by being more proactive; firing into the corners; using his flair shots; and coming up to the net himself at the right moments. Fingers crossed Lendl can help him to see this.

EDIT: Just read above and i agree with Grabcopy's comment^ (about Andy's playing style)

Looking back, I just don't think Andy played him the right way today. When he's had success against Djokovic in the past, he's been the aggressor, pounding groundshots into the corners and dictating rallies. Today, he was reactive, allowing the Djoker to dictate, hitting mid-court balls and generally not imposing himself. It was like the old Andy.

Maybe he just couldn't do that today but he certainly didn't move Novak around as much as usual. I read that ND runs twice as far when he plays Andy as he does against anyone else and that just didn't happen today for some reason. And a bit of subtlety wouldn't go amiss,

One observation I'd like to make: I felt that both players were pacing themselves, expecting a five-set epic. The comms said something similar, like they were suddenly going to go all-out in the fifth.

I feel that this worked against Murray because the pacing himself simply translated to being ultra-passive.

Oh, and as a tennis player myself, I can confirm that Adidas shoes are crap.

I think it depends very much on the shape of your foot. I love my Barricades - having tried a bunch of cheaper alternatives from Babolat, Yonex (do they actually make any tennis product that isn't total ****?) and Nike, they're the best option for me.

blister looked so painful his face said it all, i noticed ND doesnt like baseline at all,once ND noticed Andy feet that was it he was like im gonner make him run like mad i felt inside that was it you could alsmost see it in Nd eyes , on possitive Andy was right up there with ND today certainly for first 2 sets i felt baseline was the key

I'm not knowledgable enough to know what Andy should have done today really, but I'm sure a lot of good points were made here.

I'm reminded of something Lendl said at the USO when asked about what he was working on with Andy. He didn't go into detail, which is right, but he did say that they work on things and when those things are ready they appear in the matches. It really made me think. It demonstrates that it's all a process and can take time.

Andy was moving Djokovic around a lot in the opening set. Djokovic was shaking his legs out, like he did in the fifth of the USO final, very early on. At the beginning of the second I thought Andy had got him because Djokovic looked physically done. Then, hey presto, Djokovic suddenly seemed to remember how his legs worked. I suppose I shouldn't really suggest that Djokovic was playing possum, but that is what it felt like early on, and maybe Andy fell for it a bit.

I have no doubt that when Djokovic saw Andy being treated for blisters he must have thought all his birthdays and christmases had come at once. It's entirely right that he used that to help him. Andy would have done the same if the shoe had been in the other foot, no pun intended.

The thing I hope Andy learns for the future is when he has his man down he needs to kick him. Should his man try to get back up, he needs to kick him again, harder. How he can do that over the course of a match I don't know, but there must be a way.

^^ TJ - Djokovic is very good at appearing to be down and out and then suddenly springing to life and, more often than not, overwhelming his opponent, but I'm sure Andy must be well aware of this tactic by now - and if it isn't a tactic then he must have very rapid changes of energy levels.

By pure chance I discovered this evening that the BBC were showing a repeat of this match on the Red Button, so I tuned in and watched the last few games of the 1st set and most of the 2nd. Andy had Djokovic on the ropes more than once and I definitely wouldn't say that Djokovic was the better player in those two sets. Part of Andy's problem though was the fact that his first serve, which had been firing so well all tournament, somehow deserted him today. That incident with the feather landing on the court at 2-2 in the TB was also unfortunate because it was at that point Andy lost his concentration and with it the set. Maybe though it was a blessing because, had he gone two sets up and then lost the match because his body, or at least his feet, had had enough, the psychological effect could have been a little more damaging.

I havent looked at any of today's newspapers but the BBC were fairly benign in their news bulletin - and once again subjected viewers to a close-up of the offending blisters!

I was disappointed that Andy didn't try to shorten the points when he felt his foot getting more sore.

Also, he must surely have looked at the stats the last couple of times he played Djoko to see that he is coming into the net more and more and that when he does so, djoko is winning the points.

The next time they play I don't want to hear him say they know each other's game; or that it will be brutal and painful with long rallies.I want to see him not putting so much stress on his body by being more proactive; firing into the corners; using his flair shots; and coming up to the net himself at the right moments. Fingers crossed Lendl can help him to see this.

I agree - and in fact I was under the impression that Lendl has, in fact, been trying to get at least some of this across to him. I hope he succeeds.

Ironically Andy said he wanted to feel pain in this match, so that he would know that he was 'in it'. Well he certainly got it, but not, I think, in the way he intended! Anyway I'm not exactly a fan of the 'no pain, no gain' theory. I know players do have to go through pain as part of their fitness training, but I see little point in extending it to the court if it can be avoided.